AA defers delivery of A320neo family aircraft

[WorldTraveler]

AA has supposedly said they don't intend to delay any retirements but are simply deferring new deliveries - which means slower growth and a smaller airline than originally planned.


and newer aircraft - widebody or narrower become less appealing relative to new aircraft if fuel stabilizes at closer to $80 fuel than over $100 where it was before. but again, AA is not talking about keeping existing aircraft longer - just slowing the rate of growth.


Just because AA is deferring narrowbody aircraft doesn't mean they don't realize they have the same problem of too many aircraft coming on the widebody side - but they haven't negotiated an agreement with A or B or are baking into the plane additional retirements of existing aircraft which they haven't announced.

AA's rate of new 350 and 787 deliveries is way in excess of their currently announced retirement plans.

For widebody aircraft, AA is undoubtedly realizing that they will not need near as many aircraft to fly their Latin America operation for several years given that the economies of Argentina and Brazil will be weak for several years if not longer. There just aren't near as many viable long-term growth routes elsewhere on AA's system as some people here think there are.

 

[jcw]

Let's face every move AA makes its due to a serious problem - every move DL makes its a strategic play - there is no way for AA to win at anything according to one poster

Let's face it - AA is better at managing capacity than DL

 

[WorldTraveler]

I'm sorry you carry such a heavy burden of your inferiority complex around.

AA's actions are not an insult to your mother.

AA had too many aircraft on order as a result of the merger and they are correcting it given current market realities.

and you wonder why DL keeps getting mentioned in this forum when you can't stand making comments about what AA is doing relative to DL.

either company and WN and UA and anyone else can add as much capacity as they can convince Wall Street they can profitably deploy.

AA is delaying its fleet growth because they are less convinced that will be the case.

It is also likely they are setting up for hub rationalization or else they will be operating more regional jets on their existing mainline operation.

With retirements remaining constant and fewer new aircraft, AA will have a smaller fleet than it planned previously, even if that previous plan included growth.

 

[jcw]

Stop already with the back handed comments - by saying they had too many aircraft in order you are once again trashing AA you can't help yourself - let it go - you hate AA and everything it does otherwise you would not be on here with such lengthy posts bashing AA

 

[FrugalFlyerv2.0]

Trashing other airlines, be it AA, WN,  AS, etc., is ALL that he is capable of.
Every day, after day.
Lather rinse repeat.
On the other hand there is absolutely nothing that DL has done EVER that is not a winner, a smart business strategy or innovative ("zigging instead of zagging" as he once put it).
The posts speak for themselves.

 

[WorldTraveler]

nope.

talking about the economic realities of the airline industry is what I do and some find it hard to discuss because doing so requires admitting that the carefully manicured veneer that they want to believe exists about their company - which should not be viewed the same as their mother - has some cracks in it.

Step into reality. AA ordered hundreds of aircraft and then merged with a company that also had aircraft on order.

Anyone that knows the industry in the slightest knows that AA's industry leading order book outside of the Middle East was going to have to be reduced. It simply involved too much debt and too few prospects for growth which is the only way adding that much debt could be justified.

put your big boy panties on and recognize that if topics such as aircraft orders are going to be discussed, they are going to involve talking about the business and competitive realities of those decisions.

AA is deferring aircraft deliveries because the economic environment is not strong enough to suppor what AA had previously planned.

 

[N628AU]

AA is simply deferring 35 aircraft of a mainline fleet close to 1000 that were ordered before the merger. Those are covered by aircraft and orders inherited from L-US. It really amounts to a lot of talk about very little. For you to make the jump from a small fleet adjustment to hub closures is quite the stretch.

 

[Overspeed]

chilokie,
NGS is being installed on all 767-300s and 757s AA is keeping I heard. MD80s are still on the fast track out. It looks like since AA/US is adding so many aircraft that won't have heavies due for a while they can fly them more than the old ones they replaced. Another advantage AA has over DL by buying newer more fuel efficient aircraft.

 

[WorldTraveler]

AA is simply deferring 35 aircraft of a mainline fleet close to 1000 that were ordered before the merger. Those are covered by aircraft and orders inherited from L-US. It really amounts to a lot of talk about very little. For you to make the jump from a small fleet adjustment to hub closures is quite the stretch.

I'm not jumping to any conclusions or trying to connect these aircraft deferrals with hub closures.

They are both things I have said will happen in time and this is one step.

 

[silverbird007]

Maybe AA has improved its fleet so much compared to the competition, that any further improvement is overkill. Either way its no big deal, still taking delivery of 2 new planes a week for the next couple of years

 

[WorldTraveler]

Maybe AA has improved its fleet so much compared to the competition, that any further improvement is overkill.

accurate statement.

IOW, the return on investment for the additional fleet spend is not there for AA.

and again, AA has said that retirements won't change so the planned growth from the aircraft that have been deferred won't happen.

it is even more accurate to say that the incremental growth that AA can get from those additional aircraft cannot obtain a sufficiently high return on investment.